Alone
by PrehistoricCat
Summary: When an anomaly mission goes wrong, Connor is left behind.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Not mine, no copyright intended**

**A/N: With thanks to Deinonoychus_1 on LJ for the plot bunny. All comments and reviews greatly appreciated and inspire me to write more :)**

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"_Lock it Sarah!" Becker yelled as they practically fell through the anomaly onto the hard floor. "If those creatures get through, we don't stand a chance!"_

_Sarah's fingers were poised on the keyboard of the laptop that was connected to Connor's locking device._

"_Wait!" Abby yelled. "Where's Connor?"_

"_He was just behind me." Danny said. He glanced back at the anomaly. There was no sign of Connor. Abby turned and ran towards the anomaly, but Danny grabbed her and pulled her back. "It's too dangerous, Abby.! Those creatures…"_

"_He might be hurt!" she pleaded._

"_What do we do?" Becker said. "If we don't lock the anomaly now…"_

_Danny had to make a decision fast. If he allowed one or more of the team to go back to look for Connor, he would be placing their lives at risk. They had already had a pretty narrow escape and those creatures were pretty aggressive. Deep down in his stomach he suspected it was probably too late for Connor anyway, he had been only a metre or so behind him and should have been through by now. "We give him one minute." Danny said. Abby glared at Danny in horror. "I'm sorry Abby. We can't allow those dinosaurs through, this is a residential area. Connor said they were carnivorous didn't he?"_

_Abby couldn't believe what she was hearing. "We can't just leave him, Danny!" she sobbed._

_Danny nodded at the two soldiers that had accompanied them. "One minute. Keep your guns raised, if something comes through that isn't Connor, shoot it."_

_Abby snapped. The others might be prepared to abandon Connor, but she wasn't. She pulled away from Danny and made a dash for the anomaly, but Becker's reflexes were too quick for her and he had grabbed her around the waist, pinning her arms to her body. She struggled, trying every kick-boxing and judo manoeuvre she knew, but he had too strong a hold on her. "Becker, please!" she begged. "This is Connor we're talking about, not just some random stranger."_

_Becker and Danny stared anxiously at the anomaly and each other. Time was running out and there was still no sign of Connor. There was a loud roar, and Danny could just make out the outline of one of the Ceratosaurus that had been chasing them. He glanced at his watch and then over at Sarah. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes. This was the hardest decision he had ever had to make. "The minute is up." He said quietly. "Lock it, Sarah."_

"_Noooooooooo!" Abby yelled. "Danny don't do this! Please!" she struggled again. "Becker, let me go, we can't just leave Connor with those creatures!"_

"_I'm sorry, Abby." Danny said, unable to look her in the face. "Sarah, I said lock it."_

_Sarah's fingers hesitated. She looked at Abby's tear stained face, and then over to Danny. He had put up barriers, his face cold and emotionless. "I said lock it, that's an order, Dr Page."_

_Sarah pressed the button, her hands shaking. The anomaly shrunk and they all stared in stunned silence. Becker's grip on Abby changed from one of restraint to an attempt to comfort her, but she pushed him away. She ran to the locking device and began pushing every button on the laptop in a desperate attempt to unlock the anomaly, until Danny grabbed her wrists and pulled her away. He ordered the soldiers to guard the device and under no circumstances was anyone else to touch it until the anomaly had closed itself. _

"_Let's get back to the ARC." Danny said softly, trying to calm the now hysterical Abby. _

_She pulled away from and began to walk away, her eyes stinging with tears. Sarah went after her, trying to put her arm around her shoulders, but Abby was having none of it. "Leave me alone!" she spat. "You're all traitors! I can't believe you just did that to Connor! I thought we were a team!"_

"_We had no choice, Abby." Danny said. "Come on, we'll go back to the ARC and report to Lester, then I'll take you home."_

"_Stuff Lester!" Abby said, increasing her pace. She had no idea where she was going, frankly she didn't care as long as it was away from Danny and the others. _

"_Get in the car, Abby!" Danny said. _

_Abby turned to face him, the anger and pain obvious in her face and body language. "I don't take orders from you any more, Quinn! I quit!" she spat. _

-o-

(two hours previously)

As the alarm sounded throughout the ARC, the team leapt up and began their now well practised routine. Abby was checking their supply of tranquiliser, whilst Becker was loading a selection of firearms into the back of the vehicle. Sarah ensured all the component parts of the locking device were put into the boot, whilst Connor printed off all the data for the location of this latest anomaly. Within just a few minutes, they were all getting into the cars and speeding away.

There was always a sense of anxiety whenever they went off to an anomaly, what would they find when they got there? Would it be dangerous? Would someone get hurt? There was also a buzz of excitement, especially from Connor. He never tired of seeing the glowing light of the anomaly, and the creatures he had seen were beyond his wildest dreams. He glanced at his handheld detector. "Just around this corner I think, Danny." He said. As the vehicle turned the corner, they spotted the anomaly across the other side of a field behind some houses. It seemed larger than most they had encountered before, which was bad news. Anything could come through one that size.

They parked up and unloaded the equipment they thought they would need. Becker barked some instructions to the soldiers that had accompanied them, and began handing out guns. Abby was issuing vials and pellets of tranquiliser to everyone.

"OK, stick together until we know what we're dealing with here." Danny said. He led the group, climbing over the wooden fence and pausing briefly to assist Sarah. He was alert, looking for anything that might have come through the anomaly. Fortunately, it was early spring and the crops in the field had barely started to grow, so there were was no place for a small creature to hide.

They began to make their way slowly across the field, each lost in their own thoughts of what might be waiting for them. Abby stopped to fasten her shoelace, and Connor waited for her. "I don't need you to babysit me, Connor." She snapped.

"Fine. Whatever." He bit back and began to try and catch up with the others. Things had been a little strained between him and Abby the last few days. At the last anomaly call, Abby had taken a nasty fall and banged her head. Connor had been very concerned about her, and fussed over her at home. Abby felt smothered by all the attention, it had been her own stupid fault that she'd fallen and she just wanted to get back to work and forget it had happened. He felt she should have been taking it easy and they had ended up snapping at each other. Now even the slightest niggle seemed to spark off an angry word.

Abby watched Connor stomp away. She knew she had hurt his feelings and she almost shouted him back to apologise, but she could see Danny waving for them to hurry up and Connor was running. As she stood up, she saw the reason for his haste, there was a creature stood by the anomaly. From this distance it was hard to tell, but at a guess it was pretty harmless because Connor was approaching it.

When she caught up with them, she couldn't help but smile. The creature seemed to be a youngster and it reminded her of the iguanas at the zoo. "Iguanodon?" she asked. Connor nodded and grinned.

"Is it vegetarian?" Danny questioned, being slightly cautious despite the fact Connor was quite happy to be close to the creature.

"Yeah, pretty harmless really. This one's only a baby though, the adults can be as big as 10 metres long." Connor said.

Danny smiled. "Let's get him back home before his mother comes looking for him." He said. They all began trying to push the creature back towards the anomaly, but it wouldn't move, even when they starting clapping and shouting it barely battered an eyelid.

"Maybe we could entice it through with some food?" Connor suggested. He beckoned for Abby to follow him as he stepped through the anomaly. He scanned around looking for some vegetation that might tempt the young iguanodon back through. He began pulling at some fern-like plants as Abby appeared.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"I'm guessing late Jurassic, maybe very early Cretaceous." Connor said. He had gathered a huge armful of the ferns now and passed them to Abby. She resisted the urge to start whistling the theme music from Jurassic Park, knowing how much that wound Connor up and just smiled. "If you take these and try and get our friend to come through, I'll stay here and make sure he moves well away from the anomaly."

"I see, so you're not only my babysitter, you're also my boss!" She said. It had been meant as a joke, but it came out wrong. Connor's face fell, but before she had chance to apologise, he was snatching the ferns back from her.

"Jeez Abby, when you're hormonal it's like living in world war 3! I'll do it myself!" He made his way back to the anomaly.

"Hormonal?" Abby couldn't believe Connor would say that. "Perhaps if my flatmate wasn't in my face all the time, I wouldn't need to be so…" she stopped. Danny and Becker had come through the anomaly looking for them. Danny's face was like thunder.

"If you two are going to have a domestic, please save it for home. We cannot afford to have anyone whose mind is not totally on the job in hand." He said firmly. Abby and Connor both stared at their feet, pink cheeked, and muttered an apology. Connor went back through the anomaly with the ferns, and reappeared a few moments later with Sarah, closely followed by the young Iguanodon.

The team smiled, watching the creature disappear off into the forest. It was happy to be home.

"Is it safe to do a bit of a fact gathering mission here?" Danny said to Connor. "Are we in much danger here?" Danny felt it was important that they collected as much information as possible whenever they could. If they ever came back to this period, they would be better informed and would know what they would encounter.

"Depends. There are some pretty nasty carnivores in this era, but we should hear them coming in plenty of time to make our escape as long we don't stray too far from the anomaly." Connor said. He felt his heart beat quicken, he loved the opportunity to explore the prehistoric eras he had studied at University.

"OK. Abby, Sarah, I want you two up front with Becker and the soldiers. Connor and I will be at the back." Danny said. He had decided to change the usual team dynamics, realising something was wrong between Abby and Connor. It would do them both good to be split up for a little while. He watched the others move on ahead, holding back a little with Connor. "OK, out with it. What's with you and Abby at the moment?"

Connor shook his head. "I wish I knew, Danny. All I did was try to look after her after she banged her head the other day. I can't do anything right at the moment." He hung his head, trying to hide his confusion from Danny.

"Women are complicated creatures." Danny said. "Give me a Raptor or a T-Rex any day!" he laughed. Connor smiled. Raptors he understood; women, especially Abby, he didn't. They both glanced up as they heard giggling. Sarah and Abby were laughing at something Becker had said. "What's soldier boy got that we haven't?" Danny said, shaking his head.

"A really big gun?" Connor said. Danny almost choked and then the pair of them were laughing loudly. Connor had really needed this moment, he'd been feeling pretty fed up the last few days. He patted Danny's back as a gesture of thanks, then carried on following the others.

A few minutes later, Becker had stopped still with his rifle raised, and Abby was indicating for Danny and Connor to stop as well. They stood in silence, listening to the sounds of the surrounding forest. There was a rustling just ahead of them, and through the trees they could see a snout with a horn on the end. Connor strained to get a better view. He followed the shadowy outline and spotted a long crocodile like tail, and his mouth went dry in fear.

"Connor? What do we do?" Becker said.

"We run like hell!" he yelled, frozen to the spot. "If I'm not mistaken, that's a Ceratosaurus, and it's one of those pretty nasty carnivores I was talking about earlier."

The others all began running towards the anomaly, but Connor was mesmerised. As the creature got closer he marvelled at the size of the creature, up on its hind legs and using its arms to push aside branches. Danny grabbed his arm, pulling him. "Connor! Run!"

He followed behind Danny, but soon stopped. Just ahead of them were two more of the creatures, looking very menacing. "This way!" Becker yelled, indicating a clearing just to the left of them. The team ran, trying to find a way back to the anomaly, desperately aware that the creatures were following them and closing in fast. Connor could see the anomaly just ahead and breathed a sigh of relief, and then he found himself falling downwards as the ground beneath his feet just seemed to disappear.

He hit the ground with a thud, and for a moment he was dazed. He glanced around and could see the opening just above him. He had fallen into what looked like a cave. "Danny! Abby!" he yelled, and waited for one of them to appear. He could hear the creatures above him, and at one point, a foot was partially covering the hole he had fallen through. There was no way Danny or Abby would be able to come back for him, so he pulled himself up as best as he could. He could just about manage to get his head back to ground level and look around for the others. What he saw terrified him and his chest tightened. The anomaly was locked. They had gone through it and locked it! He dropped back down into the cave and sat with his head in his hands, his entire body shaking in fear and disbelief. They had left him behind!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Not mine, no copyright intended**

**A/N: Thanks to those who have commented on this or added to your favourites and alerts ... hope this doesn't disappoint - angsty angst on its way... (because I know you all love it when we hurt Connor!)**

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Connor sat, curled in the foetal position fighting back the urge to cry. He knew losing control of his emotions would not help him and he had to try and stay calm. There had to be some rational explanation as to why they had locked the anomaly and not come back for him, he just couldn't think of it right now.

He glanced up at the hole he had fallen through and could hear the Ceratosaurus still moving around nearby. Even if the anomaly was unlocked, he probably couldn't make it there before those things were on him. He had his tranquiliser gun, but it was only a small pistol, and his pellets would have no effect on those huge creatures. Maybe there was another way out? The cave was pitch black, apart from the small amount of daylight filtering through the hole, was it possible there were tunnels leading off it? He had to try.

He stood up and stretched his aching muscles, he'd jarred himself quite badly when he fell and was now feeling the effects. A thought struck him, maybe the others were unlocking the anomaly for a few minutes at a time and checking whether the creatures had gone before they came looking for him? They wouldn't think to look underground, and if he was crawling through tunnels whilst they were searching the forest for him, they'd miss each other. He had to leave them something to show where he went, but what?

He managed to climb back up towards the hole again and poked his head out. The anomaly was still locked and the Ceratosaurus still pacing around. He tried to look for something he could put by the hole that would indicate to the others where to look for him. However, other than ferns and stones there wasn't anything. It had to be something of his, that way they wouldn't miss it. He took off his hat and placed it by the hole. Even if the creatures trampled on it, it would be recognisable.

"Ok, Connor." He said to himself. "Let's find a way out of here." He dropped back down into the cave and tried to decide which way to go. He was going to have to do this by touch. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath as he slowly shuffled towards the one wall he could see. He placed both his hands on the wall then moved them slowly along to his right. Taking small sideways steps and moving his hands along the wall, he made his way into the darkness.

Several minutes later, having moved slowly and cautiously, he had made his way all the way around to the point he had started from. "Damn!" he cursed, slumping to the ground. He had been convinced that he would find a way out. He leaned back against the wall and felt his eyes stinging with the tears he was refusing to cry. Why had they left him behind? Even if the others weren't prepared to come back for him, surely Abby would have done? Then he shut his eyes and thought back to the argument they'd had the other night, and what she'd said earlier. She thought he was crowding her, always in her face … well, she'd got what she wanted now hadn't she? He felt a single tear trickle down his cheek, he was losing his battle.

"Abby!" he yelled, not expecting a reply but part of him needed to just say her name out loud. "Abby!" His throat tightened and the tears finally beat him as they began to flow freely. He rested his head on his bent knees and wrapped his arms around them, giving in to his emotions at last. He'd never felt so alone.

-o-

Connor sat there for a number of minutes. He was still trying to think of reasons why the others had left him? The thought did cross his mind that they had been looking for a way to get rid of him for some time now, and this was the perfect opportunity: "Sorry, Lester, we had to leave him behind because he was about to be eaten by a herd of carnivorous dinosaurs." He could almost hear them saying it now. "Oh well, he was annoying anyway." Lester would say. He shook his head and wiped his eyes, he had to stop thinking like that. Being negative was not going get him out of here.

He had to decide what to do next, glancing back up at the hole. As he shifted to try and see if the Ceratosaurus had gone, he felt a draught from somewhere to his left. It sent a chill through him because it was cold, but he smiled. It meant there must be another hole somewhere, he'd just missed it before. He had to try to find it, so this time he stayed on his knees and felt along the wall of the cave with his hands. About halfway around, he found it. He moved his hands into the hole to try and determine if it was just an indentation or a proper hole. It seemed to be a tunnel of some kind and it sloped upwards.

He tried to see if he could see any light, but it was completely black. There was definitely a breeze though, and that had to be coming from some kind of opening to the surface. The tunnel felt pretty narrow, it was going to be a tight squeeze, but he had to take a chance. The first metre or so wasn't too bad, and Connor managed to pull himself through quite easily. He checked the walls around and above him before moving forward to make sure they were solid, the last thing he needed now was for the tunnel to collapse around him. However, once the full length of his body was inside the tunnel, things changed.

It had been some time since he'd felt like this, and he had thought he'd got over it. It was a familiar feeling, and not a welcome one. His chest felt tight, his heart racing and his breathing began to quicken. He felt beads of sweat on his face and a wave of nausea swept over him. Ever since he'd been stuck inside an old chest freezer as a child, he had suffered from claustrophobia, and it had given him many nightmares well into his teens. He couldn't move, the fear had all but paralysed him. He tried to think of all the things he'd been told to do, but all he could of was not being able to breathe.

He clenched his fists and took a deep breath. That felt better. "Come on, you can do this!" he told himself. He felt a breeze on his face and that gave him incentive to move forward again – surely this tunnel had to lead outside into the open? Very slowly, inch by inch, he crawled along, pausing occasionally to try and steady his breathing again. After some time, his hand couldn't feel anything else in front – the tunnel had ended and there was another cave.

Fortunately, the ground of this new cave wasn't too far down, and Connor was able to slide on his stomach onto the floor. A huge sense of relief overwhelmed him, it was great to be out of that tunnel! He rolled onto his back and squinted his eyes, trying to make out shapes in the darkness. Was it is his imagination or did it seem slightly lighter in the far corner? Maybe it was the way out? He rolled back onto all fours to make his way over there, reaching out with his hands to feel his way along the ground. He expected to touch hard stone, but what he touched sent a chill of terror through him. If he wasn't mistaken, he had found the remains of something: a creature that had probably gotten itself trapped down here like he had and wasn't able to make it out.

"No no no no no no!" Connor whimpered. He had to get out of here, and fast! He began to scrabble around frantically but he quickly realised that was pointless. He felt his body shaking and then an overwhelming feeling that he was suffocating. Somewhere, deep inside, he knew that this was just his irrational fear taking over, but he couldn't find a way to overcome it. His chest was hurting and his head spinning, and Connor believed he was about to die.

-o-

Abby had no idea where she was. She had walked for the best part of an hour, going wherever her feet took her. Now that she had cleared her head, she needed to work out what to do next. Going back to the ARC was not an option since she'd effectively handed in her resignation to Danny, and she didn't like the thought of going back to the flat knowing Connor wouldn't be there. There was a pub on the corner of the street she had ended up in, so she decided to go in and find out where she was and take it from there.

As she walked up to the bar, every pair of eyes in the pub followed her. This was obviously the sort of place only frequented by the locals, and certainly not the sort of place for a young woman on her own to be hanging out in. She ordered a vodka and orange juice and glanced around her as she waited for the barman to make her drink. None of the patrons looked approachable, in fact most looked downright creepy. The barman was her best bet.

"I hope you can help me, actually." She said as she paid for her drink. "I'm lost. Is there a bus stop or a train station near here? I need to get back to Edenbridge." Her mind had suddenly been made up. She was going back to the anomaly site.

The barman scratched his head. "You're miles away, love." He said. "There's a bus every hour that'll take you into Edenbridge, think you just missed one though."

"Thank you." She said, taking a seat at the small table closest to the bar. She felt very uncomfortable, and right now she'd give anything to see Connor's smiling face sitting opposite her. She'd been pretty horrible to him the last few days and now she was regretting it. What if he had died? Their last memories of each other would be that stupid argument they'd had. She knew exactly why she had pushed him away, but explaining it was too difficult.

"I can take you to Edenbridge if you like." A voice said. A man in scruffy jeans and a paint stained t-shirt was stood by her table. Abby looked up at him. "Its OK, I'm a taxi driver, got my ID here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He flipped it open and showed Abby his taxi license and ID badge. "It's my day off, but you seem desperate. Pretty girl like you shouldn't be wondering around on her own in a place she doesn't know."

Abby shuddered. She'd rather take her chances and walk back to the anomaly site than get into a car with this man. He was probably harmless, but this whole place gave her the creeps. "I don't have much money on me. Silly of me I know, but I had an argument with my boyfriend and stormed off. He's probably driving around looking for me right now, I should start walking back the way I came." She said, knocking back her drink.

"I wouldn't expect payment, told you, it's my day off." He said.

"Thank you, but I'm fine. Honestly. Connor is probably halfway here by now." She stood up and left as quickly as she could. Outside, she stood and leaned against the wall, breathing hard. Had she really just implied Connor was her boyfriend? She would usually be doing everything she could to make people believe he wasn't. A tiny smile flickered across her face, before pulling herself together and starting back along the road towards the anomaly site.

The scenery didn't look familiar at all, but then again, she hadn't really taken any of it in earlier. She quickened her pace, needing to get back to the site as soon as possible. She wasn't sure what she was going to do when she got there but she had to try something. If Connor was still alive, he'd been alone for almost two hours now. Somehow she was going to have to persuade the soldiers guarding the locking device to let her unlock it. Maybe she was going to have to do the "girl thing" and flirt a little.

As she approached the anomaly site, she could see three figures sitting by the locking device. One of them was Danny. He was the last person she wanted to see right now, she would never forgive him for abandoning Connor.

"Had a feeling you'd show up." Danny said.

"Connor's my friend, and I refuse to just leave him. Even if he is dead, we owe it to him to bring his body back and let his family grieve for him properly." Abby said angrily.

"I know. You're absolutely right. I made the wrong decision and I'm sorry." Danny said.

"It's not me you should be apologising to, Danny." She said. "So what are you doing about it?"

"We unlocked the anomaly a few minutes ago, those creatures are still just the other side. I've called for back up, Becker and his team are on their way over."

Abby sniffed. It was the very least he should be doing. "If you'd done that in the first place, we could have Connor back by now."

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry, Abby!" Danny snapped. "I know I messed up, and if something has happened to him then I'll resign."

"Unlock the anomaly, I want to check for myself." She said. Danny nodded to the soldiers and they unlocked it. Abby and Danny moved closer, they could see the Ceratosaurus just beyond the other side. Danny turned to the soldiers to instruct them to lock it again, but in that moment, Abby made a run for it. She had gone through the anomaly.

Abby kept herself as close to the ground as she could and moved slowly. These creatures were large and she hoped their visual range was limited. The undergrowth would keep her hidden to a certain extent. Something touched her back and she almost let out a scream. A hand was on her mouth. She turned to find it was Danny.

"I knew you were going to pull a stunt like this!" he said.

"I'm not just sitting around waiting for the cavalry to arrive." Abby pulled away from Danny's grasp and began crawling on all fours towards the point where she thought she had last seen Connor. Danny followed, maintaining a distance. He'd seen that look on Abby's face before, one of complete determination and no-one was going to get in her way. He also knew that a lot of it was just a front and that somewhere inside was a scared and vulnerable woman.

Abby spotted it first, a piece of grey fabric. As she got closer she realised it was the fedora hat that Connor had been wearing. She picked it up and began to sob. Danny was at her side in an instant and wrapped his arms around her. "It doesn't mean anything, sweetheart. It fell off whilst he was running, that's all." He said.

She held the hat to her chest and wiped her face with her free hand. "Connor. Where are you?" she whispered.

Danny was scanning their surroundings, he stood up to try and get a better view and almost lost his footing. "Abby, look." He pointed to the hole he had almost fallen into. "Do you think he fell down here?"

Abby grinned. "I would say that's a certainty. If anyone is going to fall, then it's Connor." She was already shuffling herself to the edge of the hole ready to drop into it.

"Wait, you don't know how much of a drop it is. You're no good to him if you injure yourself." Danny said. He was searching through the backpack that Becker always insisted at least one of them carried when they went through an anomaly. "Torch!" he said, pulling it out and handing it to Abby.

She shone it down. "Doesn't look too bad." She said. "Come on, let's go find him!" and she dropped down into the hole.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Not mine, no copyright intended**

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Abby shone the torch around the cave, and breathed a sigh of relief. She'd almost expected to find Connor lying unconscious or even dead in a corner. "He's not here, Danny." she called up to Danny.

"Do you want a hand getting out?" he shouted back, anxiously looking behind him to see where the Ceratosaurus were.

"No, hang on, there's a tunnel here. He could have gone through to try and hide from the creatures, or maybe find another way out." she said. She was already shining the torch along the tunnel and getting ready to crawl through it.

"Don't go anywhere yet, Abby!" Danny called. He jumped down into the cave and was soon at her side, crouching down and looking into the tunnel. "It's pretty small, Abby. Connor's slim but I doubt even he could get through that." he said.

Abby shook her head. "This is the way he went, Danny." She did have doubts herself, yes it was very narrow and it was a tight squeeze even for her, but something told her this was where she had to go.

"There's no way I can follow you, so you're on your own." Danny said. He rummaged in the rucksack and found a length of rope. "Here, tie this to your belt or something, and I'll keep hold of the other end. If something happens, maybe I can pull you back to safety." Abby nodded and looped the rope through her belt, before getting onto her stomach and pulling herself through into the tunnel.

The walls felt pretty solid, although Abby was aware she could be buried alive at any moment. She felt her heart pounding in her chest as she crawled along, wondering what she was going to find at the other end. She heard a strange noise and it made her stop. At first, she couldn't work out what it was and decided it must be some kind of creature. A sudden fear hit her, and she almost started to move backwards: What if the creature was dangerous? What if it had already killed Connor and she was next on the menu? She froze to the spot, listening. It sounded almost human, like someone struggling for air – it had to be Connor! This spurred her to continue along the tunnel.

After a few minutes, she could feel a breeze on her face. She directed the torch beam straight in front of her and realised that she had come to another cave. The sound was getting louder, and the more she heard, the more convinced she was that it was Connor. "Connor?" she called.

"Abby?" came a tiny, trembling voice. It was the most wonderful sound to Abby, he was still alive!

"I'm coming, Connor. Hold on!" She slid herself to the floor of the cave and shone the torch around. Connor was curled in a ball at the far end, and Abby could tell straight away what was happening to him. Jack used to have panic attacks when they'd first been taken into care, and they had frightened her to begin with until she had learnt how to deal with them. She went straight over to Connor, placed the torch on the ground next to them and held Connor's face in both her hands. "It's OK, Connor."

Connor looked at her and tried to speak, but nothing would come out.

"I need you to try and calm yourself a little before we move on." Abby said softly. "Take some deep breaths, do you think you can do that?" Connor shook his head. "Don't be daft! Come on, I'll help. Follow me, breathe in through your nose…" she watched him and he seemed to be able to do it. "… and now out through your mouth. That's it, nice and slowly. In through your nose, then out through your mouth." She continued, and as Connor followed her instructions, his body began to visibly relax.

"Abby!" Connor gasped when he was finally able to get some control over his breathing.

Abby leaned forward to hug him, but he pulled away. Her heart sank, but she didn't blame him. He was probably angry at her for leaving him behind. "I'm sorry, Conn." She said, squeezing his hand. "We'll talk about this when we're back home. Let's just concentrate on getting out of here, OK?" Connor nodded, and pointed to a small hole in the roof of the cave. That was where the breeze had been coming from, but it was too small for either of them to get through. "We have to go back the way we came. Danny's the other end of the tunnel." She got up and made her way back to the tunnel entrance. Connor just sat where he was.

"I can't." he said, shaking his head. He could feel his chest tightening again and panic beginning to wash over him. He couldn't go through that tunnel again.

"What's wrong, Connor?" Abby said, sitting beside him again. She stroked his arm tenderly. "This isn't just about us leaving you is it?"

"Claustrophobia." Connor mumbled, barely able to speak. It all clicked into place then. Abby vaguely recalled him saying he hated confined spaces before. This must be his worst nightmare. She untied the rope from her belt, and began to tie it to Connor's belt. He looked at her questioningly.

"Danny's on the other end of this. You go through the tunnel first, he's there and can pull you through if necessary, and I'll be right behind you. You can do this, Conn. I won't let anything happen to you." Abby said.

"You left me." Connor said, still refusing to move.

"You don't know what it was like back there. Danny had to make a split second decision and …" Abby couldn't believe she was defending Danny. "He made a bad call, and he knows it, Connor. I know you're pretty angry at us right now, but you have to trust us if you want to get out of here."

Connor took a deep breath and crawled over to the entrance to the tunnel. Even in the dim light, Abby could see Connor was shaking. She crawled behind him, placing her hand on his back. "I'm right here, Conn, and Danny is just a few metres away. We can do this. You'll be out of here soon." Abby said softly. Then she shouted to Danny. "We're coming back through, Danny. We might need you to pull on the rope a bit, Connor's not feeling too good."

"OK." Danny shouted back.

Connor felt a tug on the rope, and he began his slow crawl through the narrow tunnel. "Abby!" he cried, he couldn't see her and he couldn't feel her touch.

"I'm right behind you, Conn!" she called back. "It's too narrow for me to get any closer to you."

"Don't leave me!" he whimpered.

Abby wished she could hug him right now. He was obviously completely terrified by this situation, and she felt partly responsible. If she'd fought harder, argued against Danny more, she could have gone through the anomaly to find him. "I won't leave you, Connor. That's a promise." she said.

After what felt like an eternity, they reached the other end of the tunnel. Danny helped Connor get out, and Abby was moments behind. She wrapped her arms around him, wanting to give him the hug she thought he needed, but he pushed her away. She looked into his eyes and they seemed distant. He was shutting her out and it hurt.

"We need to get out of here." Danny said. "I'm going to take a look up there to see if Becker's men are doing their stuff, then we'll make a run for the anomaly." He was already pulling himself up towards the hole. Abby heard Becker shout something, and Danny replied "Thanks!". He pulled himself completely out and then leaned down, holding out his hand. "We're clear, but we don't have long. Becker's men can only hold off those creatures for a few minutes."

Abby pushed Connor forward, and without a word he grabbed Danny's hand and climbed up and out. He sat at the edge, gasping for breath as he watched Danny help Abby to get out as well. "OK, are we ready?" Danny said.

Abby nodded and looked at Connor. She was concerned, she doubted he could even walk, let alone run. She squeezed his hand, and when she felt him try to pull away, she squeezed it harder, refusing to allow him to let go. "We have to make a run for it, Connor. I will not leave you, I promised didn't I?" There was still that distant look in his eyes, but at least he'd stopped pulling away from her. When Danny gave a nod, the three of them ran towards the anomaly as fast as they could, Abby practically dragging Connor along. She was determined to be true to her word and kept a tight hold of his hand.

They made a dive for the anomaly and landed in a heap on the ground. Abby and Danny both got to their feet and waited for Becker and his men to follow. Connor lay trembling on the ground, clutching at his chest.

"Medic! We need a medic here now!" Danny demanded, and one of the soldiers that had been posted at the locking device pulled out his radio and called for medical assistance. "I think he's having a heart attack or something!"

"No, it's OK. I've seen this before, my brother used to have panic attacks like this. Connor suffers from claustrophobia." Abby said. She knelt beside Connor and stroked his head. He pushed her hand away angrily, and Abby snapped.

"Stop pushing me away, Connor!" she said. "I just want to help you. I understand you're angry at being left behind but …"

"Now you know how it feels!" he yelled back. "All you ever do is push me away, Abby."

Abby felt like she had been stabbed in the chest. She'd never seen Connor so angry before, and she didn't blame him one bit. His words were so true, she did push him away or put up a barrier between them. She bit her bottom lip and blinked back the tears she could feel stinging her eyes as she tried to find something to say back. "I'm sorry." was all she could murmur, before he turned away and allowed the medical team to examine him.

Danny was counting the soldiers as they came back through the anomaly; he wanted to make sure every single one of them was back before he ordered the anomaly to be locked. Becker was the last through. "I make it 15, counting you." Danny said.

"That's everyone." Becker said.

"You're sure?" Danny said. Becker nodded, so Danny gave the instruction to lock the anomaly and breathed a sigh of relief. He then turned his attention to Abby and Connor. He'd expected to see them hugging or at least holding hands, but Abby was leaning against the door of the 4x4 watching the medics fuss around Connor. He glanced at her, concerned about the pained expression on her face and remembering that the pair of them had had some kind of argument before all of this. He went over to Abby, and leaned on the 4x4 beside her. "Everything OK?" he asked.

"Not really. I'm scared I've just lost my best friend." She replied quietly. Danny put his arm around her shoulders and let her rest her head on him.

"He'll come round. He's had a rough day, and he's confused. I guess we both have a lot of making up to do where he's concerned."

"I hope so." Abby said. They watched the medics move away from Connor, except one who was helping him to stand up. Abby desperately wanted to be there too, but she couldn't bear to see the anger in his face again. Danny took a deep breath and began to stroll over towards them. Even at this distance, she could see the same anger directed at Danny. There seemed to be an exchange of words before Connor got into the medics car. Danny stood, watching the car drive off, and Abby walked over to him.

"Where are they taking him?" she asked.

"No idea. I guess I'm the last person he wants to talk to right now, can't say I blame him. I don't think I've ever heard Connor swear before." Danny said. "I think we should give him some space until tomorrow, and then the whole team needs to sit down and sort out this mess."

Abby agreed, and asked Danny to drive her home.

-o-

They pulled up outside the flat just as the medic's car was leaving. At least Connor had come home, that was something. "Will you be OK?" Danny asked as Abby got out.

"Yeah, thanks. I'll not push anything tonight, just let him do what he needs to do. Maybe things will seem less…" Abby sighed. This wasn't going to be a simple case of saying sorry and all would be fine again.

Danny forced a smile and wished her a good night. As he drove off, his head began to spin. He didn't envy Abby having to face Connor right now; at least he didn't have to until the morning. However, there was something more pressing taking over his thoughts. He had already composed his resignation letter in his head, he just needed to type it out when he got home.

Abby walked slowly up the stairs that led into the lounge area of the flat. She knew exactly where Connor would be, he was a creature of habit. She found him in the kitchen making a drink. He'd automatically got out two mugs, and was making hot chocolate. Whenever they had a bad day, Connor would make hot chocolate for both of them and they would sit together on the sofa. She watched him silently, letting him take the lead in what would happen next. He poured the comforting hot liquid into the mugs and without a word gave one to Abby.

"Thanks." She smiled at him. He didn't respond. "You make the best hot chocolate." There was a tiny flicker of a smile from him, but then he swallowed and turned away.

"I'm going to take mine upstairs, if that's OK. I don't really feel like being sociable tonight." He said coldly.

"If that's what you want." Abby said. She followed him into the lounge and watched him climb the stairs up to his room in the loft. She felt like she had been punched in the stomach. In the four years she had known Connor, he had never been like this towards her. She feared it was already too late to salvage the last shreds of their friendship.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Not mine, no copyright intended**

* * *

Danny stared at himself in the bathroom mirror with disgust. He had hoped a shower and shave would make him feel and look better, but no luck. His face bore the tell-tale signs of someone who had not had much sleep. He'd spent the night mulling over the previous day's events and trying to work out everything he had done wrong.

It had begun with his decision to split up Abby and Connor. The team dynamic had always worked well before, and the pair of them looked out for each other. If he'd let Abby stay at the back with Connor, none of it would have happened. She'd have realised straight away that Connor had fallen, and he wouldn't have been left behind.

Then there was the split second decision he made about locking the anomaly. He knew the ceratosaurus were about to come through the anomaly and then all hell would have broken loose. There were a large number of houses nearby and people would have been killed. It would have been carnage. But to leave a member of the team behind? That was unforgivable. It was only sheer luck that Connor had stayed well hidden in that cave; he could have been seriously injured or killed. He'd often thought of him like a younger brother, Patrick would have been about the same age as him now. If something had happened to Connor, he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

He made his way into his lounge and hunted around for his car keys. He couldn't put this off any longer. He had to face the rest of the team, especially Connor, and admit he had been wrong. He slipped the sealed white envelope containing his resignation letter into his jeans pocket, and took a deep breath. "OK, Danny." He said to himself. "Time to face the music." With that, he left to begin his final journey to the ARC.

-o-

Abby hadn't slept much either, she'd tossed and turned all night and had even got up at one point to make a drink. She'd heard Connor moving around upstairs and she thought about going up to him. She'd even got as far as the bottom of the stairs, but then stopped herself. He would still be angry with her and only push her away. His words still stung, _"Now you know what it feels like." _She'd been putting up a barrier between them for months, but it was only now that she was realising just how much she was hurting him. He didn't deserve that. She had her reasons for not letting him in, but by protecting herself, she was hurting the one person who really did care about her.

They went about their usual morning routine without saying a word to each other, other than the occasional "thanks" – Abby had made toast for them both as usual, Connor had made a pot of strong coffee. Abby couldn't bear it, and she'd tried to start a conversation, but every time she opened her mouth, Connor turned away.

Abby went into her room to find a jacket, and when she came out, Connor had already left. She rushed to catch up with him, passing him in the street in her car. She stopped and leaned out. "Get in, Connor!" she said. He shook his head. "Connor, this is crazy! Get in the car!"

"I'm going to get the tube." he said flatly.

"Fine! Have it your way." Abby snapped, and pulled away. She was annoyed, but understood why Connor was being like this. She didn't know how much more of this she could take, sharing a flat with someone who won't talk to you was not Abby's idea of fun. She could see him still standing there through her wing mirror, looking sad and lost. She screeched the car to a halt and reversed, stopping by Connor. She opened the passenger side door and folded her arms. He got in, closed the door and fastened his seat belt.

"Thanks." he mumbled and turned to look out of the side window. Abby smiled and started the car again. She decided to try and start a conversation, at least he couldn't escape whilst he was in a moving car.

"Did you manage to get a ticket for that thing you wanted to go to at the weekend?" she said.

"Yes, I have to pick it up on the door on Saturday morning." he said quietly.

"That's good. You need something fun to look forward to."

"How do you know what I need?" Connor snapped.

"OK, sorry I said anything. Just trying to make conversation that's all." Abby said.

The rest of the car journey passed in awkward silence, and a couple of times Abby hesitated at junctions to blink away the odd tear she could feel welling up. As she pulled into the car park at the ARC, she hoped things could be cleared up today. If not, she didn't want to think about what would happen.

-o-

Connor sat at his computer, trying to look like he was engrossed in something difficult. They all knew not to disturb him when he was lost in his computer work, and he hoped he was putting on a good enough act today. He really didn't want to speak to any of them. The people he had trusted with his life had let him down in the worst possible way and now he didn't know if he would be able to trust them again. He watched Abby disappear into the lab, closely followed by Sarah. He'd heard Sarah ask Abby if she was OK. That annoyed him, Abby wasn't the one that had been left stranded in the Jurassic period in a tiny cave by so-called friends, why should she be the one that got the concern?

Becker passed him on his way to the gym, as he did every morning. "Morning, Temple." Connor didn't look up, he just grunted a response, then watched Becker disappear. Finally, Danny came in. Usually, he followed Becker into the gym in the morning, but not today. He hesitated by the desk Sarah used and took a deep breath before coming over to Connor's desk.

"I can see you're busy, but can we talk?" Danny said.

Connor thought for a moment. Danny was the last person he wanted to talk to at the moment, but he also wanted to hear what his explanation was . "OK." Connor said flatly. He swivelled around in his chair and faced Danny. He waited.

"I wanted to apologise for yesterday. I messed up, big time, and there's no excuse for what happened." Danny said.

Connor sniffed. "Apology accepted. Thank you." He turned back to his computer.

"It won't happen again, that's a promise. I should have listened to Abby instead of being 'the boss' and dishing out the orders." Danny said. Connor was suddenly interested. Abby had disagreed with Danny? "… and I can't believe I let Becker restrain her. We're meant to be a team!" he was shaking his head.

"What?" Connor said. "Becker restrained her?" he spun on his chair to face Danny again. He felt a lump in his throat that wouldn't move when he swallowed, and his anger swelled. How could they do that to her?

"She wanted to go back for you, but I insisted it was too dangerous. Wouldn't like to make an enemy of Abby, I reckon Becker's sporting several bruises this morning." He half smiled. "If it's any comfort to you, she was fighting your corner the whole time. She even told me she was quitting. I know the pair of you have issues over something, but back there at the anomaly yesterday …"

"I can't believe what I'm hearing!" Connor yelled. "You leave a member of the team behind and physically restrain another!" he felt his face burning, and his hands were curled into fists so tight it hurt. "Who the hell do you think you are!" He banged his hands on the computer desk; it was either that or punch Danny.

"I know, and I understand your anger. I wouldn't blame you if you punched my lights out right now." Danny said.

"Cutter would never have let any of this happen!" Connor spat out, his anger turning to frustration and his face creasing as he fought back tears.

"I'm not Cutter though am I?" Danny said sadly. "And I will never be able to live up to the person he was."

Connor stood up and Danny took a step back, thinking Connor was about to take a swing for him. "You're damn right you're not Cutter!" Connor said through his tears, and stormed off, heading in the direction of Abby's lab.

-o-

"Abby, we need to talk!" Connor said, pushing his way through the door to the lab without knocking. Abby and Sarah looked up. Connor was taken aback when he saw Abby, she had obviously been crying and Sarah had been trying to comfort her. "Sorry, if this is a bad time…" he began to back out.

"Actually, yes it is a bad time, Connor!" Sarah said.

"No, Sarah, it's OK. Connor and I do need to talk." Abby said softly. "Thank you, for everything." Sarah smiled and left, glaring at Connor as she passed.

There was an awkward silence. Abby turned and pretended to be interested in some plants to the side of her. Then they both spoke at the same time.

"Abby, I …"

"Conn …"

"You first, Abby." Connor smiled weakly, and sat on the stool Sarah had just left. Abby looked at him and took a deep breath.

"Connor, yesterday was a huge mistake, but I think lessons have been learned and ..."

"Do you have any idea what it was like, Abby? So many things went through my head back there, I even thought that maybe it was deliberate at one point." Connor interrupted.

"I can only imagine how you felt, Conn. I'm sorry we left you and if I have anything to do with it, it won't happen again." She took his hand and squeezed it, relieved when he didn't pull away.

"You have nothing to apologise for, Abs. Danny told me what you did. I assumed because of the way you've been acting around me recently that you went along with it. I shouldn't have given you such a hard time, I'm sorry." He placed his hand on her cheek, and wiped a tear with his thumb.

"Connor, It's me that's been giving you a hard time when all you've been doing is looking out for me. I'm not used to that, and all my instincts tell me to be wary of shows of affection. I have a few 'trust' issues that's all. Maybe one day, I'll tell you about it." she said, her voice barely a whisper.

"Is it OK if I hug you? I could really use a hug right now." Connor said.

She pulled him towards her, and they wrapped their arms around each other. All the emotion and frustration of the day before came flooding out, and they both cried. Connor closed his eyes, trying to imagine Abby fighting and arguing with Danny and Becker, and all because she cared enough about him to challenge her superiors. He was not going to find it easy trusting the others again, but he should never have had doubts about Abby. Both needed this hug, and neither wanted to end it. This wasn't just about yesterday, months of repressed emotion were pouring out.

Suddenly, the door was slammed open. They pulled apart, wiping their eyes. "I'm sorry, but this is important!" Sarah said. There was a flash of panic in her eyes. Becker was stood just behind her, looking equally worried.

"What's wrong?" Abby said.

"It's Danny. He just handed in his resignation to Lester!"

Abby and Connor looked at each other. "We have to talk him out of it!" Connor said. Becker was already halfway down the corridor, and the others all followed him at a pace.

-o-

Danny stared at the computer screen in front of him, he had made a start on his written report for Lester – the date. His meeting with Lester had gone as well as he had imagined. He'd related all the details of what happened whilst Lester sat stone faced throughout.

"I'm sure I don't have to say how serious this is, Quinn." Lester had said. "I need a full written report on my desk by the end of the day, and your plan to ensure this doesn't happen again."

"Oh, I already know how to deal with that one, Sir. I take full responsibility and it definitely won't happen again." He pulled out the envelope and placed it on Lester's desk.

"What's this?" Lester said,

"My letter of resignation, Sir." Danny said. He stood up and made his way to the door. "The report will on your desk this evening." He felt sick as he left, leaving Lester staring at the envelope in disbelief. He loved this job, in fact it was more than a job to him, but how could he continue after yesterday?

He had passed Sarah in the corridor and she stopped him to ask if he was OK. "I just had to fill Lester in on what happened yesterday and I handed in my resignation, so no, I'm not OK, thanks for asking." He walked away, not looking back, and shut himself away in his office.

He knew news travelled fast around the ARC, and he suspected Sarah would have told everyone by now. It wasn't a surprise to hear a knock on his door, but it was a surprise to see the whole team standing there, including Connor.

"Danny, you can't resign over this!" Becker said. He led the others into the office and stood by the desk. Becker looked imposing at the best of times, but his tall frame dressed entirely in black seemed doubly menacing as Danny looked up at him from his seat.

"Connor could have been killed yesterday!" Danny said. "I'm supposed to be the leader, looking out for all of you, and I let everyone down."

"You're only human, Danny." Sarah said. "And we all played a part in what happened. Abby was the only one who spoke up, we're as much to blame for this as you are." Connor squeezed Abby's hand as Sarah spoke, and Danny briefly smiled when he saw them. At least they seemed to have sorted out their issues now.

"We can learn from yesterday." Becker said. "It didn't feel right, holding back Abby like I did, and I should have said so." he looked at Abby. "I'm sorry." She nodded and smiled at him.

"It's great that we're thinking like a team again." Danny said. "But we should have been a team yesterday. If I had been a better leader, we wouldn't even need to be having this discussion. As Connor has already pointed out to me today, I'm not Cutter, and he wouldn't have let this happen. There's no excuse for bad leadership and it's best for all concerned that I go." He turned to his computer, his body language signalling that he was not willing to discuss this any further.

Becker, Sarah and Abby looked at Connor. They couldn't believe he'd had the guts to speak up and compare Danny to Cutter. "We owe you a massive apology, Connor." Becker said after an awkward silence. "We all let you down badly yesterday and I'm sorry."

"Yes, I'm sorry too, Connor." Sarah said, placing her hand on his shoulder.

Connor took a deep breath. "Apologies accepted. I can forgive, but it's not going to be easy to forget." He stared down at his feet as Sarah stroked his shoulder. Connor knew things were going to be very awkward for a while, but he also knew it would be even more awkward with yet another new leader. He couldn't let Danny give up. "Guys, can you give me and Danny some time. I need to speak to him alone, if he'll let me."

The others all nodded, and left. Connor moved himself to stand directly in front of Danny's desk and waited for Danny to speak. Danny tried to ignore him for a minute or so, but he couldn't do it for long. He could feel Connor's eyes on him, demanding attention. "What do you want, Connor?" he said at last.

"You don't have to go you know." Connor said.

"Yes I do."

"Walking away from the problem is the coward's way out, and you're not a coward. This team needs your guts and no-nonsense approach. There are no rules for what we do, and occasionally mistakes happen. Cutter made mistakes too, Lester sacked him over a bad decision that almost got Abby killed." Connor swallowed down the lump in his throat when he recalled that particular day, and how he had argued with Cutter about what they should have been doing to find Abby. It was almost a role reversal of yesterday.

"So Mr Perfect wasn't quite so perfect then? That's comforting." Danny said sarcastically. "Look, Connor, I am really sorry about yesterday, I can't say it enough … but my mind is made up."

"Actually, he was a lot like you in some ways." Connor sat down on the edge of Danny's desk. "He made a big mistake that day, but he faced up to it and tried to put it right. He didn't give up looking for Abby, and it all turned out OK … apart from … um, yeah, that's not really important to this discussion." Connor blushed bright red and looked down at his feet again. He took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is, Cutter wasn't perfect, he knew he wasn't and he made the odd cock-up. But what made him a good leader was admitting he was wrong and trying to put it right. Just like you did yesterday." He faced Danny again.

"I already handed in my letter to Lester." Danny said.

"Maybe he hasn't read it yet?" Connor said. "Or maybe he'll let you retract it?"

"You don't give up, do you?" Danny laughed.

"Think about it at least, Danny. This team needs you. Give it until the end of the week, and if you still want to leave, then we'll respect your decision." Connor stood up to leave. He was almost at the door when Danny spoke.

"Connor…"

He turned. "Yes?"

"Thanks."

Connor smiled and walked out, heading towards Abby's lab. There was the small matter of an unfinished hug he wanted to deal with.

-o-

Connor could sit and watch Abby for hours if she let him. He loved her meticulous attention to detail with even the most mundane of tasks, and the way her brow creased when she concentrated. If felt good to be able to sit with her again without her complaining that he was crowding her.

"Do you think Danny will change his mind?" Abby said.

"Hope so. I think I said the right things." Connor sighed.

"What _did_ you say, Conn?" Abby asked. She knew Connor often struggled to say what he really meant, and was intrigued to know how his conversation with Danny had really gone.

"I told him about the time Cutter messed up and we almost lost you." Connor said quietly. He blushed and turned away, unable to make eye contact with her.

"I see." Abby said, her voice almost a whisper. The events of that day were permanently etched in her mind. She'd seen Connor in a completely different light then, and suddenly he wasn't just the guy she happened to share a flat with. "Did you tell him everything?"

But before Connor could answer, the ARC was filled with the familiar sound of the anomaly alert, and they began their well rehearsed routine. As they hurried down the corridor towards the ADD so that Connor could get the co-ordinates of the new anomaly, they were delighted to see Danny fastening up his gun-holder and also heading towards the ADD.

"Joining us?" Abby said with a hopeful smile.

"Yeah. Someone needs to keep you lot in line don't they?" he said. Connor briefly glanced back at Danny with a huge grin on his face.

They were a team again, and although Connor knew he would be practically clinging on to Abby the whole time, he was glad they were all still a part of it.


End file.
